Senate Health and Human Services committee advances broad package of health bills, debates telehealth and advance-directive language

The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services advanced a broad slate of health-related bills and amendments after public testimony and committee discussion, voting to pass measures that include proposed constitutional amendments on reproductive freedom and contraception, updates to telehealth law, pilot programs for houseless individuals with serious mental illness, and updates to advanced health-care-directive law.

The committee voted to pass chair recommendations on each measure; many votes were unanimous in committee, with one recorded excused absence. Members repeatedly said they would continue working on some items by inserting defect dates and asking for technical or non-substantive amendments.

Committee action and context

At the outset, the committee heard testimony on SB297, a proposed constitutional amendment described as protecting the right to reproductive freedom. Dozens of individuals and organizations filed testimony both supporting and opposing the measure. The committee adopted the chair's recommendation to pass SB297; the roll call in committee recorded the chair and vice chair voting aye, and Senators Hashimoto and Keohokalole voting aye; Senator Fevella was excused.

The committee also debated SB1281, a telehealth bill with significant stakeholder comment. HMSA (the Hawaii Medical Service Association) testified that it supported the bill's intent but opposed the draft because, it argued, the definition of an “interactive telecommunication system” could be read to expand audio-only telehealth beyond what federal rules will allow after the public-health emergency ends. An HMSA representative said the bill as written raised “great concerns” and asked for clarifying amendments. Department of Human Services and other advocates emphasized the need to preserve limited audio-only access in some rural and behavioral-health scenarios. The committee passed SB1281 with amendments that preserve audio-only language in certain places and set a defect date to allow continuing negotiation.

Committee members also advanced SB1450, an intensive mobile-teams pilot program for houseless individuals with serious mental-health disorders; the committee voted to pass with technical amendments, blanked out appropriations in the bill text and placed a request for $1,300,000 in the committee report.…